Opinion

Apr. 02, 2013 @ 11:08 PM

Editorial: Start of Major League season reminds us what a great game baseball is

The Major League baseball season began this week, and every team, regardless of ability or analysis, is still in the pennant race. That means your favorite team has a chance at glory.


Apr. 01, 2013 @ 11:57 PM

Letter: Mayor, Board of Aldermen should support I-40 project

Dumplin Creek Development stalled for a lot of reasons. The economy went flat. The City declined to spend $8.5 million on the new road and access improvements the development needs.


Apr. 01, 2013 @ 06:51 PM

Letter: Remote Area Medical Clinic supporters receive thank you

Sevier County’s Remote Area Medical Clinic was held at Pigeon Forge High School on March 9 and 10. On behalf of the Sevier County Remote Area Medical Clinic’s Planning Committee, we would like to thank the community for their support and service.


Apr. 01, 2013 @ 06:49 PM

Editorial: Try to weaken open-meetings bill failed, but it won’t be the last time

Every legislative session there is an effort by some lawmakers to weaken the state’s open-meetings law. The neverending quest of elected officials to meet in secret to discuss the public’s business knows no holiday.


Mar. 31, 2013 @ 11:55 PM

Editorial: Origins of April Fools' Day hard to sort out, but its impact is not

Trying to figure out the origin of April Fools’ Day is like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube in five minutes. A few can do it, but the rest of us eventually just take a hammer to the thing and tear it to pieces.


Mar. 29, 2013 @ 11:39 PM

Editorial: Carson-Newman right to honor Billy Graham with special award

It’s hard to imagine there is an award, trophy or recognition that Billy Graham hasn’t been given. The man has been an evangelist and minster for most of his 93 years, and earned a deserved reputation for fairness, honesty, and adherence to the principles and teachings of the Bible.


Mar. 29, 2013 @ 11:36 PM

Letter: Some federal expenditures odd, some cuts senseless

The following are some of the recent necessary and reasonable government expenditures: $27 million to Morocco to teach their people how to make pottery, $1.5 million to a hospital in Boston to discover why American lesbians are overweight, $947,000 to determine what astronauts can eat on Mars, $325,000 to develop a robotic squirrel to scare rattlesnakes, $3.8 million to study human-elephant relations, $384,000 to study genitalia of ducks, and $664,000 for Ukranian Easter egg worship (whatever that is), and worst of all, $250 million to Egypt, not exactly a friend of the United States.


Mar. 29, 2013 @ 11:28 PM

Editorial: Three Cheers


Mar. 27, 2013 @ 11:50 PM

Editorial: Pigeon Forge wise to create housing bureau for event planners

If you’re going to be a player in the tourist game, and go after those big conventions that attract thousands, you have to stay up with your competitors fighting for the same events and same dollars. The city of Pigeon Forge has done that with its approval of a housing bureau that will make it easier for event planners to book rooms.


Mar. 27, 2013 @ 11:44 PM

Letter: Firefighters receive thanks for emergency call response

My brother Jeff Whaley and I were the developers of Black Bear Ridge Resort. We put a lot of heart and soul into the developement. I still own the wedding chapel, Angel’s View Wedding Chapel and rent cabins in the resort through Pigeon Forge Cabins and Resorts L.L.C.


Mar. 26, 2013 @ 11:44 PM

Editorial: Don't buy baby chicks, ducks and make them Easter gifts

They are awfully cute, and for some an Easter tradition. Trouble is, as cute as they are, they turn out not to be very practical as pets or possessions.


Mar. 25, 2013 @ 11:22 PM

Letter: UN Small Arms Treaty ratification must be stopped

The most egregious decision the president and the Senate could make in the near future would be the ratification of the U.N. Small Arms Treaty.


Mar. 25, 2013 @ 11:21 PM

Editorial: Sevier County’s Teachers of the Year represent a noble profession

Not many people go into the teaching profession as a fallback. They choose to teach because they want to, because they feel led to, because they see it was a rewarding, if difficult and challenging, way to make a living. They want to be a positive influence on young people. They experienced a calling.


Mar. 24, 2013 @ 11:04 PM

Dan Smith: Catholics seem to have the right man for the time

Finally, the white smoke was bellowing. Cheers went up around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Celebration sounded the world over when they heard that the white smoke was visible.


Mar. 24, 2013 @ 11:01 PM

Editorial: Home use of medical oxygen on rise, so safety precautions needed

There is more portable, medical oxygen being used in Tennessee homes than ever before. It is a critically important medical service to those who need it, but it also poses some risks.


Mar. 23, 2013 @ 11:06 PM

Stan Voit: A little bit of this and that for a spring day ...

Rep. Dale Carr made a beeline for me last weekend to give his side of the issue that had ensnared him: the sale of wine in grocery stores.


Mar. 22, 2013 @ 11:19 PM

Editorial: Three Cheers


Mar. 21, 2013 @ 11:11 PM

Letter: Speech by Cato centuries ago still rings true today

Even though I am not a historian, I do read it occasionally and this strikes a chord with me:



Mar. 20, 2013 @ 11:03 PM

Editorial: Pigeon Forge's new Wear Farm City Park another great amenity for the town

It's been a rough week for Pigeon Forge, with a massive fire that began Sunday destroying more than 165 acres and dozens of cabins in the hills outside the city. But come Friday, the city will do some much-deserved celebrating. The first phase of Pigeon Forge’s 118-acre Wear Farm City Park will open, with activities that include food, a ribbon cutting and even fireworks.


Mar. 17, 2013 @ 11:13 PM

Sound the alarm

There have been at least 11 lives lost to residential structure fires since Feb. 28, the State Fire Marshal’s Office says. That’s why the office is encouraging all Tennesseans to change their smoke alarm batteries. Timing those battery changes to the change the six-month change in time is a good idea.


Mar. 16, 2013 @ 10:40 PM

Letter to the editor: Voters should create own term limits for members of Congress

During the 2012 Presidential campaign all we heard from politicians and the media was that Americans’ Number 1 priority was jobs and the economy.



Mar. 15, 2013 @ 10:42 PM

Editorial: Three Cheers


Mar. 15, 2013 @ 12:14 AM

Editorial: Rescue squad

This area — heck, this state — is fortunate to have Appalachian Bear Rescue in operation. It is the state’s only licensed center to rehabilitate black bears.